Captured on Canvas

Paintings and works of art on paper are an important part of the Chester County story. The collection comprises images by local artists and of local subjects. Landscapes and portraits by Bass Otis of Philadelphia (1784 –1861) are juxtaposed with works by renowned West Chester artist Horace Pippin (1888 - 1946). Fraktur, decorated birth and marriage certificates, are colorful evidence of the early German influence in the area and hundreds of silhouettes, many produced at the Peale Museum in Philadelphia, add a visual dimension to genealogical research.